Metallizing fibrous



. R. WAITZ. I Metallizing Fibrous, Cellular, and Porous Substances No.225,l86. Patnt ed Mar. 2, I880.

Wilqesseas lrp/Eqlqr- I UNI.TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I RICHARD WAITZ, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ME'TALLIZING; Flen'ou's, CELLULAR, ANo' POROUS SUBSTANCES.

srncrrrcur'ron forming part or Letters Patent No. 225,186, dated March2, 1880.

' Application filed December 19, 1 878.

To all whom it maypoacemi Be it' known thatl, RICHARD WAITZ, of

' Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachu- I setts, have inventedan Improvement in Metallizing Substances'having a Fibrous, Cellular,

or Porous Nature, of which the following de,

scriptiom'in connection with the accompany-' 1 mg draw ng, is aspecification. v e

' This-invention relates to certain modes and processes oforfoxjincorporating with organic, cellular, fibrous, or poroussubstancesor coating or covering such substances witha metal,

' to tberebyimprove the durability of the said substances, lessenitheirliability to become decayed, increase their water-repellent qualities,

- and lessen their-liability to be bored by worms,

&c., in salt-water, and to make a suitable base whereby any of the saidsubstances may be -further coatedwith'any'metal capable of beor lesspure metallic state, from their compounds, by means of a salt of a metalhaving a .greatcr 'aflinity' for the acid combined with the metals. tobe deposited than the latter have. It also consists in a process ofplating upon wood or similar substancesof a fibrous, cellular, or porousstructure adapted to receive a continuous coating of metal, by, firstmetalliz ing said substances or depositing metal in a finely-dividedstate in and upon the pores and fibers thereof, and i then 'depositin gthereon a solid continuouscoating of metal, which at taches itselffirmly-to the, metal first-dep'os ited.. I e

It further consists in wood or similar sub stance of fibrous, cellular,or porous struct-- are having a firm continuous coating of metal uponits surface, and also having metal depos; ited [or incorporated in thefibers and pores:

.' thereof and firmly united with thc surface-coat-' ing.

The materials or bodies preferably used by me in connection with myinvention, as herein described, are wood, paper. leather, or similarsubstances.

My invention for impregnatingor coating any of these organic substancesor bodies hereinbefore mentioned with a metal separated from itssalt maybe carried out or practiced in several ways, which, by experiment,

. I have found practicable to an eminent degree, and among which are thefollowing, they being the best ways now known to me, viz: First, theorganic fibrous, cellular, or porous body or material to be metallizcdmay be coated with or be immersed in a Solutionof salt of one'metal,(the desired metal,) and thenin a solution of a salt of a differentmetal, care being taken to use in the first solution-an acid which hasmore affinity for the second metal than for that with which it was firstcombined.

The acid of the first solution will be taken up by the second, and themetal of the first solution will be left in or upon ,thefibrous,cellular, or porous substance or body treated, and the depth ofpenetration of the free metal so left into the body of the substancetreated may be made more or less, accordingas the substance is treatedor immersed in a vacuumchamber, or under pressure, or aided by heat or,second, the fibrous, cellular, or porous body to he treated may beimmersed in a s0- lution'of a salt of one metal, and in water may besubjected to the action ofi a piece of metal which has more affiuity forthe mineral metal, where it will ;act to take the mineral acid from thesaid salt of metal, leaving upon .or invtlie substance being treatedfree metal,

-myin vention, to impregnate or coat, say, the substance wood with-metallic silver.

The wood willbe immersed in or brushed over with asolution of nitrate ofsilver, and, preferably after being dried, it will be coated with'worimmersed in a solution of sulphate of Honor chloride of tin, whichsulphate or chloride will, by reason of its stronger affinity for acidemployed in creating the first salt of IOC ' glish Patent No. 1,274, forthe year 1857, proposed to silversilk, wool, &c., and mentioned wood andmany other substances of a fibrous or porous structure.

Becker described substantially the following process, viz: He proposed,first, to immerse the substance in a solution of gallic acid,

after which the substance was to be allowed to drain or dry; second, thesubstance was then dipped fora second in a solution of twenty parts ofnitrate of silver in one thousand partsof distilled water, and thisalternate dipping into the two-flnidsand draining was to be continueduntil the blackened appearance of the material was followed by a lightsilver tinge,

.when the substaucewas to be immersed in a compound fluid, as follows:first, caustic lime, grape-sugar, and racemic acid, (or, instead ofracemic acid, carbonic oxide of soda or potassium or gallic acid,) anddistilled water; and, second. nitrate of silver, liquid ammonia, anddistilled water, the two fluids before use being proposed to boil thesaid substances being silto be impregnated by the metal of the metallicsalt. It. would fail to producean adhereutor vered 'in a solution ofsalts of tartar and water.

' The said Becker process diflers materially from my process, and wouldnot permit the surface or body of the substance being treated continuousmetallized surface, or such a metallized surface as could be practicallyelectroplated.

I claim- 1. The process of inetallizing substances of consists inimpregnating or coating the sub stance with asalt' of the desired metal,and then depositing the latter in a metallic state (more or less pure)in and upon the pores and fibers by means of a metal or salt of a metal,substantially as described. v t

2. The process of plating upon wood or simi; lar substance of a fibrous,cellular, or porons structure adapted to receive a con tin nous coatingof metal, which consists in first depositingmetal, in afinely-dividedstate, in and upon the pores and fibers of the substance to be.

plated, and then depositing there'on, by gal- -vanic action orelectrolysis, a solid continuous coating of metal, which attaches itselffirmly to-the metal first deposited, snbstantiallyas described.

- 3. Wood or similar substance of fibrous, cellular, 0i porous structurehaving afirm continuous coating of metal upon its surface, and also haing metal deposited in the fibers and pores thereof and united firmlywith the surface-coating, substantially as described. thoroughly'mixedand filtered, and then it was In testimony whereof I have signed my nameto this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD WAlTZ.

Witnesses 4 G. W. Gaseous, N. E. WHITNEY a fibrous, cellular, orporousstructure, which I

